Medicine at your Feet
Plants and Food
(If you wish to act on any of the information on this website, you must consult with a healthcare professional. Do not try to be your own doctor)

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


Bidens pilosa

PLANT NAME: Bidens spp.

COMMON NAMES: Kïnehi (Bidens pilosa) , ko'oko'olau (native Bidens species) [Hawai'i]; xian feng cao ("abundant weed"), gui zhen cao ("demon spike grass" or "ghost needle weed") [China]; aceitilla [Spanish]; amor seco (Desmodium adscendens is also called "amor seco") [Peru]; beggars tick / spanish needle / needle grass [USA]; black jack [South Africa]; cobblers peg [Australia]; fisi 'uli [Tonga]; has kung chia, han feng cao [Taiwan]; muni [Aymara, Quechua]; ottrancedi [India]; picao preto, cuamba [Brazil]; piripiri [Cook Islands]; saetilla, sillk'iwa [Quechua]; sanana vinillo, saytilla, natilluna [Bolivia]; spanish needle, needle grass [Barbados, St. Thomas]; te de coral [Mexico]; z'herbe zedruite [Caribbean]; fisi'uli [Tonga]; uqadolo [Southern Africa]; z'herbe zedruite, z'herbe z'aiguille [Dominica, Martinique].

TOXICITY: See Cautions and Contraindications.

CAUTIONS AND CONTRAINDICATIONS: Can irritate the bladder and kidney in high doses. Some constituents may be weak esophageal carcinogens [Mirvish 1979].

USE AS FOOD: Young leaves sometimes eaten raw or steamed, but the taste can be a bit strong. In Zimbabwe the leaves are boiled with peanut butter and eaten. Bidens pilosa is eaten in Africa as a vegetable.
Fermented with rice to make "sake".

RANGE: Bidens pilosa is native to South America, the Caribbean, Africa, and the Philippines. There are 60 native species of Bidens in Hawai'i, and 19 of those are endemic.

GATHERING: You don't have to… it gathers you. Gather before the achenes (hitchhikers) appear on the flower heads. In China it is gathered late summer - fall.
Note: Do Not gather native Bidens species. The introduced varieties work very well and are not endangered… not by a long shot. The rule of thumb is: If the Bidens gathers you (produces hitchhikers), then you can gather the Bidens. Native species do not produce hitchhikers.

NOTES 'N QUOTES

"Bidens with Arctium and blended with pig fat can cure finger cut."
Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold (Qian Jin Yao Fang) - - Sun Si Miao, 581 - 682.

"... probably the best herbal therapy we have for irritation, inflammation, pain, and bleeding of the urinary tract mucosa." - - Michael Moore

• Both a poignant blessing and an abominable curse, most of herbalists I know in Hawai'i have a love-and-loathing relationship with kïnehi. Like a dysfunctional romance, it can make us crazy or joyous depending on the circumstances.


A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


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Much of this information is through the grace oand kindness of my

Hawaiian and Chinese teachers and my gratitude goes out to
them. Any errors are mine alone.

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David Bruce Leonard, L.Ac.